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I did look. It looks difficult, as I've said many times. I saw the picture.
So they're writing Arabic. What a sin! Kids in my high school wrote in Japanese in their classes, Mandarin, and other languages for certain assignments. It's a world geography class. They learn about the world and its cultures. Geography in high school is usually more than "here's a country and its capital, okay moving on." They learn about the world, including different cultures, including religion and language.
This was no attempt to convert. Anyone who thinks it was is paranoid. I guess now VA will have to change its education standards for this curriculum due to the outcry, since this was defended by the district as following the guidelines set by the state...
No need to go extreme. I was just correcting you.
Calligraphy can be learned with the English language or any language if you intend to have a lesson in calligraphy.
Calligraphy can be learned with the English language or any language if you intend to have a lesson in calligraphy.
But this was a lesson in Islam and it was Arabic.
I was talking generally, not just to you, because many people have an issue with this whole assignment. Sorry if you thought I was getting sarcastic with you. I know it's Arabic but many have been calling it calligraphy, even some articles on it.
What is the point in learning that calligraphy anyway? It looks extremely difficult and unless one is a Muslim, there's no real purpose to learning it. There's learning about the major world religions, then there's having students write anything in the language or any otherwise special written word. Are the kids also writing in Hebrew and learning to read and write right to left? I don't see why learning about religion has to...?
I can't say for certain what this particular teacher's goal was, but my middle schooler's assignment this week is to design his own tomb and describe a bit about himself using hieroglyphs for their unit on ancient Egypt. I believe they also had a similar writing style when they covered the Sumerians and Assyrians during their unit on Mesopotamia. It seems to me the assignments are meant to teach them a bit about the development of different writing systems in human history and to make the material fun and engaging.
I was talking generally, not just to you, because many people have an issue with this whole assignment. Sorry if you thought I was getting sarcastic with you. I know it's Arabic but many have been calling it calligraphy, even some articles on it.
Tells you how much those journalists didn't even know or bother to research before they wrote that article.
I'm pretty sure that's the exact phrase you have to say to convert to Islam.
So yeah....that's a bit disturbing. I wouldn't be okay with anyone trying to trick others into converting to any religion.
....because saying (or actually, writing) a phrase that they don't really understand and certainly don't believe will then "magically" convert them against their will? Total B.S. - just because you say some words or mumble an incantation doesn't turn you into a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu, or a Buddhist! Unless you BELIEVE, it means nothing.
I can't say for certain what this particular teacher's goal was, but my middle schooler's assignment this week is to design his own tomb and describe a bit about himself using hieroglyphs for their unit on ancient Egypt. I believe they also had a similar writing style when they covered the Sumerians and Assyrians during their unit on Mesopotamia. It seems to me the assignments are meant to teach them a bit about the development of different writing systems in human history and to make the material fun and engaging.
This is all part and parcel of getting away from just reading and rote memorization and straight essay writing.
It's called "interactive learning" with projects like you mentioned and such.
It's goal is to provide a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
That phrase was written in Arabic. They were practicing writing Arabic.
Calligraphy is nothing more than decorative handwriting.
That can be done in the English language.
What they were asked to do is to copy the Shahada, written in Arabic.
Look at the screenshot of the worksheet in the OP link.
Yah, except that the students weren't practicing writing - practicing implies that they're going to actually learn to write Arabic - which wasn't the point of the exercise. I assume the students were treating the target as a picture to copy as best they could - if they could read the bits & letters & vowel indicators & etc. of Arabic, their work would have looked a lot more like the target. They were trying to reproduce or copy a stylized version of Arabic, used for ornamental purposes to render important text, often religious. Everyday Arabic would be much easier to copy, as far as I know. I believe the point of the exercise was to show the intricacy of the written language, without reference to the content.
Sure, calligraphy can be done in English, very pretty. & if the course gets to Medieval England, I'm sure they'll include a sample of English calligraphy, replete with archaic vocabulary, spelling, punctuation & grammar. But since they were studying Islam, they were presumably studying someplace where Islam is predominant - the Middle East, @ a guess. Old English will just have to wait its turn.
Yah, except that the students weren't practicing writing - practicing implies that they're going to actually learn to write Arabic - which wasn't the point of the exercise. I assume the students were treating the target as a picture to copy as best they could - if they could read the bits & letters & vowel indicators & etc. of Arabic, their work would have looked a lot more like the target. They were trying to reproduce or copy a stylized version of Arabic, used for ornamental purposes to render important text, often religious. Everyday Arabic would be much easier to copy, as far as I know. I believe the point of the exercise was to show the intricacy of the written language, without reference to the content.
Sure, calligraphy can be done in English, very pretty. & if the course gets to Medieval England, I'm sure they'll include a sample of English calligraphy, replete with archaic vocabulary, spelling, punctuation & grammar. But since they were studying Islam, they were presumably studying someplace where Islam is predominant - the Middle East, @ a guess. Old English will just have to wait its turn.
A smart person would still check to see what it means. Otherwise it's not much different from idiots who get Chinese character tattoos without knowing what they mean.
It certainly does not indicate any sensitivity to Muslims not to know what Islam text they're handling...or what the kids might have "said" if they get the calligraphy wrong.
This is completely false.
stark contrast
Allah allows and promotes lies ,
God of heaven commits all liars to judgment hell .
Jesus 600 years before Mohamid, proclaimed that "Satan is a liar and the father of it."
There are many other contrasts to Allah, and God of heaven.
With the satan worship that goes on among the elite ,it is no surprise they go along with the muslim.
Not everyone interprets God in the same way.
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Kids in my high school wrote in Japanese in their classes, Mandarin, and other languages for certain assignments. It's a world geography class. They learn about the world and its cultures. Geography in high school is usually more than "here's a country and its capital, okay moving on." They learn about the world, including different cultures, including religion and language. 
I guess now VA will have to change its education standards for this curriculum due to the outcry, since this was defended by the district as following the guidelines set by the state...
I don't see why learning about religion has to...?
It's all Greek to me
